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Shahla was born in Iran, where her journey in an active artistic lifestyle was first formed. It was in her youth when Shahla first began sketching, and her passion for the arts has since then become her life’s commitment. Witnessing her father create wonderful and marvelous paintings sparked the catalyst for Shahla to embark on the fine arts herself. “Behazin”, the pen name of Shahla’s father Mahmoud, was a renowned author and translator of literature and established himself to be a great influence on her work for years to come.
Shahla studied art at the University of Tehran, and her academic endeavors would later take her as far as London, England and Paris, France. Back in Iran, she became moved by the unmitigated poor living conditions that affected lower classes in that society, such as starvation, disease, poverty and homelessness. Her expressive oil paintings captured the deep pain on the faces of her subjects then. It was in this increasingly unjust society, that Shahla first created politically conscious art.
It was in those defining years of the future of Iran, that Shahla married Mohsen Jamal, an accomplished artist and musician as well. While Shahla was pursuing doctoral studies and attending art history classes at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 occurred. The necessity of this colossal event asked for Shahla and Mohsen’s presence and support. Hence the newly wed couple joined their country’s predicament; her studies in Europe became abrupt with a return to her motherland. The outcome of this revolution was the new regime, and thus a new life was eventually created in Germany, in 1985. From 1986 to 1994, Shahla had successfully exhibited her work in Germany, and also co-founded Art Direct Gallery in Cologne. She led an active career in which she contributed to community organizations, and participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Cologne and nearby.
In 1994, the Jamal
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